In the production of meat products such as sausages, weiners, and the like, a meat emulsion is prepared which is subsequently fed under pressure ("stuffed") into a casing. Precooked products, such as the so-called luncheon meats, are formed from meat emulsions which are subsequently loaded into molds for cooking. Similarly, pressed meat products are formed from mixtures of meat chunks which are fed under pressure into forming molds.
In all of the above products, it has been found desirable, and often times necessary, to remove air from the meat mixture immediately prior to loading it into a mold or casing. Deaeration at this stage in the processing not only eliminates undesirable air pockets in the final product but also appreciably increases product shelf-life. Accordingly, numerous devices have been developed for the deaeration of meat emulsions and chunky meat mixtures.
One well known machine for the deaeration of meat products is manufactured by Chemetron Process Equipment of Louisville, Ky., and sold under the ANCO trademark as a 1402C Continuous Vacuumizer-Stuffer. This device is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,599,556, 3,908,536, and 3,908,537, all owned by Chemetron Process Equipment, Inc. While this machine has proved satisfactory for many applications, difficulty has been experienced in cleaning the machine, and further, it is a relatively expensive device to manufacture.
Similar machines are produced by a number of other manufacturers, but none has proved entirely satisfactory from the standpoint of ease of cleaning, cost, and product quality. Moreover, devices of this type are a specialty machine capable of performing substantially only one or two processes, thereby making them a significant cost item, particularly for small meat packers.